Undo and Redo
Almost everything you do in TheBrain can be undone using Undo from the Edit menu.
Unlimited Freedom
Your Brain can have a virtually unlimited number of Thoughts. Got 100,000 Thoughts you want to organize? No problem, even in the Free Edition.
Pins
Use pins to reach frequently used Thoughts. Select Create Pin from the Thought menu.
Automatic Capitalization
If you use all lowercase to name your Thoughts, TheBrain will automatically capitalize the first letters of most words. This feature can be turned off via the Preferences dialog box.
Multiple Thought Creation
You can create multiple Thoughts (more than one Thought at a time) by using semicolons to separate Thought names in the Create Thought dialog box.
Window Layout
To adjust the relative size of the plex window and tools window, drag the splitter between them. To change the orientation of the windows or to display tools separately, drag the tabs around the window.
Keyboard Navigation
You can navigate using the arrow keys to select Thoughts and the enter key activate the selected Thought. Hold down Alt and use the left and right arrows to go back and forward.
More Keyboard Commands
Press Shift+Enter to open the attachment of the selected Thought and Delete to forget.
Customizable Accelerators
The Preferences dialog box contains a section that allows you to assign keyboard equivalents for most commands.
The Past Thought List
The past Thought list is a scrollable list of Thoughts in the order they were activated. The most recent active Thought is at the right end of the list.
Organizing Child Thoughts
With too many children under one Thought, your Brain may become difficult to understand. Create an intervening child Thought and activate it. Drag and drop Thoughts from the siblings list to the child zone to quickly reorganize.
Link and Move
Hold down Shift while linking a Thought to a new parent to unlink all of its other parents automatically. This enables moving a Thought from one parent to another in a single step.
Instant Activate
As you type in the search box, matching Thoughts are displayed instantly in the order they were last activated.
Full Text Search
Clicking the Search button or hitting enter after entering a search will perform a full search through all the contents of your Thoughts.
Mouse Wheel Scrolling
The mouse wheel can be used to scrolls Thoughts except that when the mouse is over the active Thought it resizes the text and when in expanded view it adjusts the spacing between thoughts.
Notes HTML
Notes is a full HTML editor and can include images, hyperlinks, and other content. To launch hyperlinks, hold down the Ctrl key and click.
Tags
Tags let you flag groups of Thoughts with common characteristics quickly and easily. You can add multiple tags to a Thought via the context menu by holding down Ctrl or Shift as you click.
Forgetting Thoughts
A Thought that is no longer important can be "forgotten." The Thought or its content will not be deleted and can be "remembered" by selecting Forgotten Thoughts from the Options menu.
Themes
Use the Themes section of the Options menu to quickly change the look of your Brain. You can even create and save your own themes.
Deleting Thoughts
Deleting a Thought deletes its content including notes and attachments. External attachments are not deleted when a Thought is deleted.
Deleting External Attachments
To delete an external attachment, right click on it and select Open Attachment's Containing Folder from the context menu and then delete it using the file manager.
Copy and Paste Thoughts
You can copy and paste Thoughts between different Brains. Select the Thoughts you want to copy and use Copy Thoughts under the Edit menu to start.
Duplicating a Thought
Quickly duplicate a Thought by right clicking on it and selecting Create Duplicate Child Thought.
Search Web
Use Search Web in the Options menu to search the Internet for Web pages related to the active Thought.
The Thought Menu
You can display the Thought menu from the main menu bar or by right clicking on any Thought or pin in the plex window.
Thought Icons and Colors
Thought icons and colors can be used to visually distinguish important Thoughts. Thought types let you set up icon, color, and label combinations that you can quickly assign to a number of Thoughts.
Reordering Pins
You can reorder your pins by using drag and drop.
Linking Thoughts with Pins and the Past Thought List
You can link to a Thought that isn't in the plex by bringing the "unseen" Thought into the plex and dragging from one of its gates to the past Thought list or to a pin.
Linking Thoughts by Typing
You can also type into the Create Thought dialog box and select an existing Thought.
Wander
Choose Wander in the Options menu to see the plex automatically reconfigure. Cancel wander by clicking the plex window.
Expanded View
With TheBrain Pro, select Expanded View from the Options menu to see more of your Brain at once.
Expanded Wander
Using TheBrain Pro, try using the wander function while in the expanded view. For the best effect, make sure Collapse on activate is not selected from Options in Preferences.
Drag and Drop
You can drag files from your desktop or pages from your browser to the plex or to the attachments list. To drag from the browser, drag the icon in the address bar.
Thought Windows
Choosing Open Thought Window from the Thought menu will open a window for the Thought that can be kept open while you activate other Thoughts. Use this to drag and drop attachments between Thoughts.
Moving the Auto-hide Button
The auto-hide button can be dragged to any edge of the screen and the TheBrain window will dock to that edge.
ESP Sync
ESP Sync automatically activates Thoughts that you type or copy while in other applications. You can customize its behaviour to suit your style in the Preferences dialog box.
Keyboard Thought Creation
You can use keyboard commands to create Thoughts from the active Thought: Use F6 to create children, F7 to create parents, and F8 to create jumps.
Sharing Your Brain
To share your Brain, use Sync it online and you can share the link with anyone. Recipients need not install anything - they can view your Brain right from inside the browser.
Backup Your Brain
To create a complete backup of your Brain use Create BrainZip under the File menu and place the resulting .brainzip file on backup media such as a removable hard drive or network storage.
Calendar Events
Use TheBrain Pro's calendar to schedule events that are related to Thoughts in your Brain. When your event is due, you will be automatically reminded. Click on the events in the calendar to activate the related Thoughts.
Calendar Navigation
TheBrain Pro's calendar view can be zoomed out to the next larger time scale by clicking at the top of the calendar. Zoom in by clicking on the month, week or day you want to see.
Search File Names and URLs
Search also automatically searches file names and URLs.
Search Word Forms
Search automatically matches terms that are the same word in a different form and will suggest related terms at the top of the search results list.
Renaming Brains
Use Rename Brain under the File menu to rename the currently open Brain.
Drag and Drop Options
When dragging and dropping files, hold down the following keys to change the resulting action: Ctrl to attach a copy of the file. Ctrl+Shift to move the file into your Brain.
File Templates
If you want to be able to easily create a copy of a file, add it as a template. Copy the file into the templates folder, accessed from the Add Attachment dialog. You can also right-click a file attachment to copy it to the templates folder.
Attaching Applications
You can launch applications that don't create files (such as games) by linking to their program files or shortcuts.
Save As
With TheBrain Pro, when you open a file that is saved internally in your Brain, you can use the Save As of the external application to create a new version that will be automatically attached to the Thought. Just save the file in the Thought's folder.
Thought Folders
To open a Thought's folder, select Open Thought Folder from the Thought menu.
Drag and Drop Extras
With TheBrain Pro, if you have trouble dragging and dropping content into TheBrain, try opening the Thought's folder and dropping content there. Any files created there will be automatically attached to the Thought.
Multiple Attachments
In TheBrain Pro every Thought can have multiple attachments.
Moving External Attachments
To move an external attachment into your Brain, right click on it and choose Move File into Brain.
Copy and Paste Attachments
You can copy and paste file attachments between Thoughts and between the other folders on your computer.
Thought Display Order
You can set the order of Thought display in the Options menu using the Arrange Thought by submenu.
Labels
Labels can be assigned to Thoughts in the properties menu. Labels are displayed in the plex when you mouse-over a Thought and are automatically searched.
Search Sources
Tags and labels are automatically included in searches along with notes and Web attachments. With TheBrain Pro, the contents of attachments are also included in searches.
Thoughts Icon Extras
If a Thought has multiple attachments, the number in the corner of the Thought icon indicates how many there are.
Pasting Thought Icons
If you copy an image into the clipboard, you can paste the image as a Thought's icon by right clicking on the Thought and selecting Paste Thought Icon.
Pasting Wallpaper
To quickly try out wallpaper, copy the image into the clipboard and right click on the background then select Paste Wallpaper.
Wallpaper Colors
Wallpaper that is mostly a single color tends to work better since it has less contrast.
Thought Background Colors
When using wallpaper, choose a Thought background color that is similar to the wallpaper color, but more extreme. For example, if the wallpaper is dark blue, choose a darker blue for the Thought backgrounds.
Filtering Thoughts
TheBrain Pro includes the ability to filter Thoughts based on criteria you select. In the Reports tool, display the thoughts you want to show, then set the filter setting to normal.
Expanded View Controls
TheBrain Pro's expanded view can be customized with options in Preferences. The (+), (-), and (o) buttons let you expand, collapse, and freeze Thoughts. Click (+) a second time to expand all its related Thoughts.
Hiding Links
Try turning off the display of links using the Options tab of the Preferences dialog box. Links will be hidden until they or their connected Thoughts are highlighted with the mouse.
Narrow Fonts
Try selecting a narrow font in the Preferences dialog box. This will allow you to see longer Thought names in the plex.
Statistics
Choose Statistics from the Brain menu to see how many Thoughts are in your Brain and much more.
Connectedness
The Links per Thought number in Statistics is an indication of the overall connectedness of your Brain. A pure hierarchy has a value of less than 1.
Multi-Page Printouts
TheBrain Pro lets you print out your Brain across multiple pages for giant size plexes.
Selecting Thoughts
You can select multiple Thoughts by using the Edit menu or by holding down Ctrl and clicking. Clicking a gate selects all the linked Thoughts. Select the search results using Add Search Results to Selection from the Edit menu.
Search Highlights
When you do a search, all the Thoughts that have matching results are highlighted in the plex.
Faster Note Loading
Notes can be made to load faster if you turn off spell checking as you type using the Tools menu.
Uploading Attachments
If you want to upload a file from your Brain to a Web site or your Web based email system, right click on it and select Copy. Then you can paste the file's location into your Web browser.
External Attachment Indicator
A black arrow in the lower left corner of a Thought icon indicates that the attachments are all external. A blue arrow indicates that only some of the attachments are external.
Using Multiple Monitors
If you use multiple monitors, TheBrain can be placed permanently on your secondary monitor while the window is in float mode to provide an always available guide to your information. In this setting, ESP Sync can be particularly useful.
Embedding Objects into Notes
If you embed objects such as video into a Thought's notes, they will not be visible until you export the content or select Open in Browser from the notes File menu.
Multiple OS Support
TheBrain desktop application is available for Windows, Mac OS X, Unix, and Linux. iOS, Android and mobile access is available from www.thebrain.com.
USB Drive Support
You can put your Brain on a USB drive and take it with you easily.
Maximizing Thought Readability
Turn on Thought backgrounds and shadows and make the colors assigned to these items the opposite of the text color to maximize Thought readability.
TheBrain Hot Key
Press Ctrl+Alt+Z to quickly open your Brain when it is hidden or does not have the focus. You can start typing the name of a Thought to activate right away without the need to touch your mouse.
Renaming Thoughts
F2 renames the currently highlighted Thought.
Function Keys
F2 - Rename highlighted Thought. F3 - Activate the search box. F4 - Web search. F5 - Activates notes. F6, F7, and F8 - Create child, parent, and jump Thoughts. F9 - Advanced search.
Emailing Attachments
With TheBrain Pro, you can right click on an attachment to open an email message and attach the file. You can also use drag and drop or copy and paste to add attachments to emails.
Hiding the Toolbar
You can hide the toolbar from the View menu to maximize your screen usage.
Drag and Drop with Auto-hide
When your Brain is auto-hidden, you can still drag and drop to the auto-hide button and your Brain will pop open.
Link Properties
TheBrain Pro lets you add labels, colors, and thicknesses to links. These properties can be used to highlight important relationships and provide additional details about how Thoughts are connected.
Fast Deletion
If you want to delete a Thought without forgetting it first, hold down the shift key while right clicking on the Thought.
Adding People
Adding the people you know to your Brain and connecting them to their friends and family can help you remember more about them.
People Context
Connecting business contacts to their companies and projects will provide you with an advantage years later when most people would normally have forgotten all the context that made your relationship beneficial.
Brainstorming
Brainstorming with TheBrain can be very productive. The results can be used as a basis for moving forward with the best ideas. It may be helpful to forget Thoughts that were not used so they do not clutter your thinking.
Moving Multiple Thoughts
You can use multiple Thought selection to quickly move a group of Thoughts by linking and unlinking them. The selection is also a great way to delete a lot of Thoughts at once.
Temporary Pins
The selection can be used like a temporary set of pins.
Private Thoughts
If you want to publish your Brain in the future, make sure to mark Thoughts you don't want others to see as private using the Private checkbox on the Properties & Attachments tab.
Pasting Images into Notes
You can cut and paste images into notes for a fast reference.
Inserting the Date and Time into Notes
When using notes and you want to insert the current time, just select Insert Time and Date from the notes Insert menu or the notes toolbar.
Quickly Resizing the Plex Window
Double click the background of the plex to instantly maximize it. You can also double click on the titles of the tools to maximize them.
Status Messages
Status messages for tasks that may take an extended period of time, such as exporting a Brain, are displayed in the upper right corner of the plex. Move your mouse over the icon to show the message if it is hidden.
Context Sensitive Names
Commas in a Thought's name change its display depending on the name of the active Thought. A Thought called Books, Art will be displayed as only Art when the parent Thought Books is active.
Context Sensitive Naming Shortcut
To create a Thought that includes the name of the Thought it is being created from at the beginning, start the name with a comma. To include the source Thought's name at the end, end the name with a comma.
Multi-Term Instant Activate
Try entering more than one term into the search box. The instant results will show everything containing words that start with what you entered. For example, entering ab ge will find the Thought Absolute Genius.
Instant Activate Speed
If your Brain is very large (over 30,000 Thoughts), the instant search results appear faster if each of your terms is at least two characters long.
Turning Off Animation
You can turn off the animation of Thoughts by moving the animation speed slider in the Look & Feel pane of the Preferences dialog box all the way to the left.
Creating Outlines from Thoughts
You can turn your Thoughts into a text outline by selecting them and using Copy as Text from the Edit menu. Just paste into your favorite editor, or even into the notes of one of your Thoughts.